KIRKUS REVIEW

The public relations business
becomes an unlikely but effective villain in this techno-thriller.

High school senior Alix lives in
privilege: designer labels, Caribbean vacations, elite private education. But
when the mysterious activist group 2.0 targets her school, Alix learns that her
father is their real objective, and soon Moses, 2.0’s seductive leader, makes
her doubt everything she once believed. Despite choppy, repetitive and
unabashedly didactic prose, clogged with infodumps detailing the history of
corporate spin, multiaward-winning Bacigalupi cranks out a suspenseful, page-turning
yarn. While any caper involving such a perfectly ethnically and sexually
diverse team of teenagers, all blessed with genius-level skills, is scarcely
plausible, it is nevertheless praiseworthy. Alix keeps the story grounded with
her thoughtfulness and integrity. Her insta-romance with Moses—creepy origins
notwithstanding—feels both authentic and intense, with a sensual physicality
that pushes the book firmly into the crossover category. Even though some
chapters are in his viewpoint, Moses remains a chameleon, elusive and opaque;
although his philosophy of “trust no one” and “test everything” is hammered
home repeatedly, readers devoid of their own superteams aren’t given many tools
to follow through in real life.

Whether readers ultimately find it passionate,
preachy, inspiring or quixotic depends upon their own levels of cynicism;
nonetheless, it’s a book bound to provoke thought—and arguments. (Thriller.
15 & up)

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